Alabar weanling consignment rich with quality

The upcoming NZB Standardbred Weanling sale at Karaka has in recent years built a reputation as a key event in the sale of harness racing bloodstock in New Zealand.

Both Woodlands Stud and Alabar NZ Ltd have played a leading role in seeing the sale evolve to what is to date. Whereby under the ‘All Age Sale’ tag it held previously, it had probably developed a reputation as a place where vendors disposed of stock more so than offering quality bloodlines and purchasing opportunities.

One of the pillars of the new format has been the two studs offering progeny by some of their burgeoning shuttle stallions, with recent seasons seeing the likes of Downbytheseaside, Lather Up, Always B Miki, and Captain Crunch all making their debut in the auction ring under the Weanling Sale format.

While not a first offering, one of the real exciting storylines of this year’s edition of the Weanling Sale is the offering of 18 Lazarus progeny with 16 of them consigned by Alabar NZ who stood the stallion in the 2021/22 breeding season at their Waiau Pa base on the outskirts of Auckland.

“These weanlings are a result of the season we stood him here at Alabar,” said longtime General Manager, Graeme Henley.

“We bred a number of our own mares to him, and we have 16 of them in the weanling sale. We think it’s an excellent opportunity for buyers with how the sire is going in North America and what the trainers are saying about them down here,” he said.

Lazarus finished the 2022 season in North America in 8th position of the 2YO money list with his debut crop with the likes of Handlelikeaporsche, Life’s A Puzzle, and Voukefalas all showing immense juvenile speed. The latter looks like being one of the must-watch horses in North America in his sophomore season with a recent qualifying effort unfurling a sub-25 last quarter.

After fertility issues while standing in Australia in his first two seasons down under, Lazarus only has a small crop of 17 2YOs this season in New Zealand, with already a quarter of them having made public appearances.

“Everyone is pretty well aware of what has happened with Lazarus’ stud career to date down under, so to have 16 for sale in one day is a rare event,” said Henley.

“In terms of what we have got in the weanling sale, there are a couple of fillies who I think have really got a bit of quality about them. One I really really like is Lot 112 which is a filly out of a mare called There’s A Dancer. She has done a really good job at stud, and when we did the videos, I thought she paraded up with a bit of quality about her. There is another Lot 115 out of a mare called Thirsty Thursday, I thought she looked like a lovely moving filly as well.

“They are a good bunch, but I think there is also a good opportunity for buyers there, particularly with the colts because a few of them are later foals so they are naturally a little bit smaller and that may make them a little bit easier for them to buy. People looking at his stock shouldn’t assume they are going to all be to dear because I think a few of those later foaled ones provide an opportunity for them,” he said.

Henley has personally handled some of the great sires of the last two decades but has been impressed by what he has seen from the early showings of the champion son of Bettor’s Delight.

“They are nice horses; you don’t get many Lazarus’ that give you any problems. they almost sail under the radar a wee bit because they are not causing problems along the way.

“They are pretty determined horses, but they don’t cause a lot of problems and don’t have what I would call a lot of dirt in them, they want to help and work with you from that side of things and Lazarus himself was such a cool dude you wouldn’t get a nicer temperament in a horse, and a lot of that has come through to his progeny,” he said.

One of the Alabar stallions being represented with their debut weanling sale crop is the exciting trotting prospect, Elite Stride. He joined the Alabar roster back in 2021 after retiring as the Australian 3YO Trotting Colt of the Year with a record of nine wins and four placings from just 14 starts.

He is a son of world’s leading sire Muscle Hill, while his dam Real Babe is a $386,103 earning daughter of Donato Hanover. Real Babe was purchased by the Rosati’s for $200,000 at the Harrisburg mixed sale with the intent of improving the trotting breed in the Southern Hemisphere. Her dam is the millionaire and Dan Patch award winning mare Housethatruthbuilt 1:52.8 – $1,266,768. While she also ranks as a half-sister to the Dan Patch award winning Master Lavec.

“Historically, the sale has been a really good opportunity to showcase those new sires and it’s been a good step along the way in the career of those horses and this year it’s Elite Stride’s turn,” said Henley.

“They are a nice bunch, we have six of them in there, and being a son of Muscle Hill out of a heck of a good American maternal family, he deserves his chance. In terms of what stands out, we have a colt in Lot 56 out of Letz Hope who has only ever had two colts before, one of which was Zigzagzoo, who has done a nice job in Australia, and the other is called (Our) Maestoso, who is unbeaten over there as well. I think this colt will probably be the pick of them of where the interest will be,” he said.

Another that caught the eye in terms of pedigree was Lot 25 who is line bred on a 3×3 reverse sex cross to Muscles Yankee.

“I pushed the envelope there with the doubling up of Muscles Yankee because it works so well in North America. A lot of the top trotters over the course of history have been closely bred to a certain sire line and it may well give this one the x factor. It’s a really good pedigree with three strains of Muscles Yankee close up in it and should be a great way to get some really modern bloodlines in a hurry,” he said.

Like a fine wine, Art Major at the ripe old age of 24 is the gift that keeps on giving to both Alabar Stud and his supporters. Had the Purdon/Phelan trained Merlin been able to overcome a horror marble in the Harness Millions 2YO Final, his sire may well have eclipsed Bettor’s Delight on the money list for leading juvenile sire honours for the first time in nearly a decade.

He is represented at Karaka by a nice draft of six weanlings and presents a cracking opportunity for buyers looking for their next champion pacer.

“He’s a phenomenon really and he’s been a wonderful horse for us,” said Henley.

“We want him to live forever but there want to be a lot more crops to come from him, I guess. He’s amazing and you could argue his current crop of three-year-olds with Merlin in it is one of the best he has ever produced.

“Quality Art Majors are hard for people to buy at the yearling sales, so for people to be able to have the opportunity to come along and buy one at the weanling sales where they won’t sell for quite as much is a really good opportunity and it’s been a really happy hunting ground for people looking for Art Major’s,” he said.

Always B Miki is another well represented at Karaka and has the distinction of being the leading sire of two-year-olds in New Zealand almost halfway through the season.

As a proven sire of both colts and fillies, Henley believes that this consignment of Always B Miki weanlings may well be the best he has taken to a sale.

“These are a really nice bunch we have got; I was just looking through them on the videos and I feel like these might be the nicest bunch of Always B Miki we have had in the sale in terms of type and how they have videoed up.

“I think they are a really nice group and as a sire who leaves both colts and fillies, he has a really nice future, and we have a colt there out of Cullens Princess who is a full brother to Miki Montana who should attract a lot of interest and if people take the time to view the videos, they will see there are a number of them with some real quality about them,” he said.

Australasian sire Vincent has been making every post a winner in the early stages of his career and is making a great fist of dispelling some of the misconceptions about ‘colonial’ bred pacing sires, as well as the knock on Art Major being able to produce a siring son.

He is already the sire of five group race winners with just two crops of racing age and his qualifying percentages are through the roof on both sides of the Tasman.

“He is almost there and very close to being regarded as a proven sire,” said Henley.

“He is doing all the right things and has a very high percentage of qualifiers. He has shown he can leave quality horses and is almost there, if he can just sustain what he is doing for another six to eight months I think he will be regarded as being well established.

“I don’t like to go the early crow with these young sires, but he has got the likes of Sherlock who is a very nice horse and Vessem is showing similar quality. All the Vincents we sell at the sales and handle are strong horses who are well bodied and move very well and it does point in a really good direction for him. He got his best ever book of mares this year which means he has a lot of friends out there, so we have our fingers crossed.

“The tough thing with the stud business is these stallions have to make themselves standing against the likes of Bettor’s Delight and Art Major who are serving bigger books and better-quality mares and you have to go out there and beat them. In some ways you almost have to be better than them to match them. In saying that, they have earned that privilege and you have to earn the right to be there. Another good year and hopefully Vincent will earn the right to serve those top ones,” he said.

The buzz sire at last year’s yearling sales was obviously the champion son of Somebeachsomewhere in Captaintreacherous. Not to be outdone, his champion son in Captain Crunch produced four six figure yearlings with his debut Southern Hemisphere crop in 2023 and has been on the lips of everyone since making a sensational debut at last year’s Karaka weanling sale.

“He’s been given a wonderful opportunity by breeders with some high-quality mares and big numbers. They have sold well and have gone to the top trainers,” said Henley.

“We sold his first crop at the weanling sale last year and he topped the sale which was great for him. We have another really nice lot of weanlings for him and the way Captaintreacherous is going, he is obviously the most influential pacing sire in the world at the moment. Captain Crunch is clearly his greatest son, so he really deserves his chance, he has another really lovely bunch of weanlings in the sale.

“One thing that stood out to me this season is we bred three of our older mares to him, mares who have done a great job for us and he has left three lovely fillies for us, and I think that’s a great sign that he can produce those sorts of foals from mares who are in the twilight of their careers. I’m sure they will sell well because you never hear a bad word about the Crunch’s from the types they are, from how they are to handle and how they have broken in,” he said.

Among the 51 Alabar weanlings are progeny by champion trotting sire Majestic Son, x factor sire Rock N Roll Heaven and one from the first crop of four-time G1 winning son of Bettor’s Delight in Ultimate Sniper.

The enormity of the task is not lost on Henley who admits that while he would prefer to do a few less, there are a number of mitigating factors that go into preparing a consignment of this magnitude.

“We will have 15 staff there on the day and it always goes pretty quick. It’s always great to take a nice group of horses there but it’s also nice to come home to some empty paddocks because that’s a job well done.

“It is a lot of horses, and it is really hard to get them all consistently heading in the right direction doing them all out of the paddock, but I think we are doing a really good job of it. The variation of ages of some of these foals, some are born in August, and some are born in late December, so you have a wide range of ages you are trying to deal with and what you are looking to feed them. You don’t want to underdo them, and you certainly don’t want to overdo them.

“It is a lot of horses to get over there in one piece, and we ask a lot of these little horses. They haven’t been long weaned, and we are asking them to lead and then we are trying to video them and behave themselves for a photographer where they need to stand like a statue. Then you are taking them to the sales where you are hoping they will relax in a completely new environment and then they are hopping on a truck to the South Island or a plane to Australia.

“It would be more comfortable to do a few less to be fair and we probably intended to do less but have had some great clients who wanted us to do some weanlings for them this year which we have been only too happy to help them in that regard,” he said.

Aside from the logistics of the consignment, there is a bigger picture in mind when producing so many foals by the Alabar roster and one that should not be lost in the duty of care the stud has for the overall health of the New Zealand harness racing industry.

“As much as we want to, we feel an obligation to be breeding a number of horses for the industry to be pulling our weight there and the only way we can breed a big number is to be able to sell them as weanlings.

“With the size of our property and the facilities we have and the fact we get so busy in the breeding season, we can’t carry that number of horses through the winter to the yearling sales.

“Being able to sell them as weanlings makes it viable and it’s something together with Woodlands, we have built over time by treating it with respect and putting quality horses in the catalogue.

It works within our business model, and you have to be fair that now the breeding numbers are down, it is getting hard to make a viable business from solely selling semen and we have to get some income from selling both semen, weanlings and yearlings.

“I would much prefer to be just selling semen, but the reality is that the market has shrunk, and you have to do what you have to do, and that means selling young horses. I think it is doing the right thing by the industry getting those horses out there by decent stallions out of good families and going to people for reasonable value.

The sale has grown a lot, our consignment last year averaged $18,000 where probably seven or eight years ago it was averaging $6000 and we hope that continues in the future,” he said.

The 51 Alabar Weanlings will be onsite at Karaka in the early afternoon on Tuesday 23 May with the Alabar Weanling Parade at Karaka taking place on Wednesday 24 May at 1pm (followed by parades of the other weanlings in the sale)

To view a full list of the available Lazarus weanlings at the NZB Standardbred Weanling Sale, click here.

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink